Richard Manuel (The Band)

"Isn't everybody dreaming?--then the voice I hear is real.
Out of all the idle scheming, can't we have something to feel?"
--"In a Station", Richard Manuel

Richard George Manuel (April 3, 1943 – March 4, 1986) was a Canadian composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his contributions and membership in The Band.
Richard Manuel's emotional, soulful voice and his beautiful songwriting was essential to the success of the original group.



On March 4, 1986, The Band's lead singer, pianist, and drummer Richard Manuel after a gig at the Cheek to Cheek Lounge outside Orlando, in Winter Park, Florida, with the reunited Band, committed suicide in a motel room in Winter Park. He had seemed to be in relatively good "spirits" but ominously thanked Hudson for "twenty-five years of incredible music". The Band returned to the Quality Inn, down the block from the Cheek to Cheek Lounge, and Manuel talked with Levon Helm about music, film, etc., in Helm's room. According to Helm, at around 2:30 Manuel said he needed to get something from his room. Upon returning to his motel room, it is believed that he finished one last bottle of Grand Marnier before hanging himself. Manuel's wife Arlie — drug addled herself at the time — discovered his body along with the depleted bottle and a small amount of cocaine the following morning.
He was buried a week later in his hometown of Stratford, Ontario.

Quotes about Richard Manuel :

• "Richard Manuel was a whole show unto himself. He was hot. He was about the best singer I'd ever heard; most people said he reminded them of Ray Charles. He'd do those ballads, and the ladies would swoon. To me that became the highlight of our show."--Levon Helm
  

• "He brought a lot of powers and strengths to the group. He brought in gospel music from his church upbringing. Plus, he loved to play and just come up with new things. It was like having a force of nature in the band." --Rick Danko
  

• "Richard not only had the voice, he had this great rhythmic feel..." --Garth Hudson
  

• "Richard was a sweet, sweet guy... Always pushed the envelope beyond where it would go. Drove one hundred fifty miles an hour in his driveway; faster on the road." --John Simon
  

• "I was madly in love with Richard... At the time, [1975] we had the same troubles. I felt insecure and he was clearly insecure, and yet he was so incredibly gifted....For me he [Richard] was the true light of the Band. The other guys were fantastic talents, of course, but there was something of the holy madman about Richard. He was raw. When he sang in that high falsetto the hair on my neck would stand on end. Not many people can do that." --Eric Clapton
  

• "Richard Manuel's is the first voice you hear on the first Band album Music from Big Pink. After a Robbie Robertson guitar intro that sounds as if it's being fed through Garth Hudson's Lowrey organ at its most distorted, his aching baritone launches into the first reproachful line of `Tears of Rage`. As it arches over `arms`, you can't help thinking of Ray Charles, the singer who more than any other shaped this unlikely white soul voice from Stratford, Ontario. And by the end of the first chorus you realize why, in an almost unspoken way, Manuel's fellow Band vocalists Levon Helm and Rick Danko always looked upon him as the group's `lead` singer." --Barney Hoskyns
  

• "Well, let's see: I started [in music] at nine and quit. Then got back to it when I was twelve. Then I became a party star. In fact, I became a party!" --Richard Manuel
  

Tributes / Posthumous Recognition :

• In 2003, the Japanese company Dreamsville Records released selections from a solo concert recorded in Saugerties, New York in October 1985, in a compilation entitled Whispering Pines: Live at the Getaway.

• Eric Clapton recorded his tribute to Richard Manuel, "Holy Mother", on his 1986 release August.

• San Francisco-area group The Call, who had collaborated with former Band members Garth Hudson and Robbie Robertson, dedicated the video for their 1986 single, "Everywhere I Go" to Manuel. The dedication appears at the end of the video.

• Robbie Robertson's self-titled solo album from 1987 opens with "Fallen Angel", a song dedicated to his former bandmate.

• Rick Danko sings lead on "Too Soon Gone", the reformed (minus Robbie Robertson) Band's tribute to Richard from the 1993 album Jericho.

• In 2002, Counting Crows released Hard Candy, which contained the song "If I Could Give All My Love -or- Richard Manuel Is Dead", inspired by the late musician. The inspiration from the song, according to Duritz, came from the sense of "not lasting" he felt when he went to bed and read a newspaper that stated Richard Manuel, lead member and piano player of The Band, had died. Duritz stated that the sense of impermanance was "overwhelming" and 15 years after the death of Manuel this sense inspired him to write the song.

• In 2004, The Drive-By Truckers released The Dirty South, which contained the song "Danko/Manuel". The lyrics contain the phrase "Richard Manuel Is Dead" and also refers to other members of The Band. Writer Jason Isbell: "When I started writing this one, I wanted to capture some of Levon Helm's feelings about the deaths (and lives) of Richard Manuel and Rick Danko. The longer I worked on the song, the more impossible that became. I felt like the best I could do was to explain my own attitude toward being a working and traveling musician."

• Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, lead singer Jason Isbell had joined the rock band Drive-By Truckers in 2001 while they toured in support of their album Southern Rock Opera. He recorded and wrote with the Truckers for their next three albums.On April 5, 2007 Isbell announced that he was no longer a member of Drive-By Truckers. Jason was the writer of the Drive-By Truckers' "Danko/Manuel" tribute song. He plays the song with his new band in his gigs.

• 2005 saw musical recordings by Head of Femur ("Song for Richard Manuel" on "Hysterical Stars") and by Mike Skliar ("Goodbye Rick Danko" in his self-titled collection); in 2008, Michigan roots quartet Steppin' In It released the album "Simple Tunes for Troubled Times", which contains the song "The Ghost of Richard Manuel", while Isaac Gillespie's album "1971" featured "Richard Manuel the Pacifier".

• Richard Manuel's grave is at the Avondale cemetary in Stratford, Ontario. Richard's hometown Stratford honoured him in 2004 with a sidewalk star and a memorial bench.

Tribute Page : HERE

Richard Manuel Album Discography : HERE

Richard Manuel Photos : HERE

Richard Manuel at Wikipedia : HERE

THIS IS MY STORY (Biographies) : Richard Manuel of The Band


Audio Clips (Tribute Tracks):
Danko/Manuel - Drive-by Truckers, The Dirty South (2004)
Fallen Angel - Robbie Robertson (1987)
Holy Mother - Eric Clapton, August (1986)
If I Could Give All My Love -or- Richard Manuel Is Dead - Counting Crows, Hard Candy (2002)
Everywhere I Go - The Call, Reconciled (1986)




YouTube :
Whispering Pines - The Band (1969)


Tears Of Rage - Richard Manuel with The Band, at Woodstock (1969)


You Don't Know Me - The Band, "The Band Is Back" tour (1983)


The Shape I'm In - The Band, "The Band Is Back" tour (1983)


Danko/Manuel - Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, @ Local 506 9.6.07


Danko/Manuel - Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Common Grounds in Gainesville,Florida on May 5th 2009


If I Could Give All My Love -or- Richard Manuel Is Dead - Counting Crows (2002)

Rick Danko (The Band)

On December 10, 1999, just days after the end of a brief tour of the Midwest that included two shows in the Chicago area and a final gig at The Ark in Ann Arbor,Michigan Rick Danko's heart gave out,and he died in his sleep at his home nearWoodstock, New York.


Rick Danko :
Richard Clare Danko, Dec. 29 1943 - Dec. 10 1999.
Lead singer. Instrument: Bass, violin, guitar of The Band
The music will live forever.

Life :
Rick Danko learned music as a young child, became an apprentice butcher at age 14, was a member of an American/Canadian Honky-Tonk Rock’n'Roll band at 17, an international Rock’n'Roll star with “The Band” by age 23, and died at age 56 of a heart attack.

Rick Danko was a kind, fun-loving, goofy man who used a distinctive and flowing style when playing bass (aided in part by his use of a fret-less bass beginning in the mid-70’s) and sang with a pitchy, falsetto voice on many of his lead-vocal tracks with The Band.















Rick Danko, The Last Waltz, 1976




Quotes about Rick Danko :

• "I think Rick was one of the greatest and most soulful singers I've ever heard. Definitely, the most original bass player I've ever heard, and one of the kindest hearts to have ever graced this planet."
  -- Robbie Robertson
  

• "Rick Danko is one of the all-time great writers, musicians and interpreters. The first time I heard Rick, I knew he was something out of the ordinary, a commanding presence both inspiring and healing. Even after thirty years, his soulful, artistic integrity never wavered. Rick Danko was an artist true to himself and to the rest of us."
  --Richie Havens
• "Rick Danko was a special friend. A great singer, unique musician and wonderful soul. His music and charisma had the power to move and inspire. His knowing chuckle could always bring a smile. And though we don't have him with us anymore, we will always be able to hear his voice and feel his spirit."
  --Eric Andersen
  

Rick Danko on lead vocals for The Band :
Two notable songs by the Band that Danko sang lead for included “Stage Fright” and “The Unfaithful Servant.” Both became staples for the group’s live performances, and both are among the best of the music the group recorded.


Authorized Biography : HERE

Rick Danko's Album Discography : HERE

Rick Danko's Photos : HERE

Rick Danko at Wikipedia : HERE

Tribute Site : Rick Danko - His Life, His Music & His Legacy

Tributes Songs :
Drive-By Truckers - Danko/Manuel, The Dirty South (2004)
Steve Forbert - Wild As The Wind, Just Like There's Nothin' To It (2004)
Jonas Fjeld - Rick, Tidevann (2001) http://theband.hiof.no/lyrics/rick.html
Luke Doucet - The Day Rick Danko Died, Blood's Too Rich (2008)
Amy Fradon - Silver Wings, Small Town News (2000)
Blue Horizon - Back To Memphis
David Munyon - Song For Danko, Song For Danko (2006)
Sonny Miller - Danko's Blues (All In All), Jewels Dance Hall (2005)


Audio Clips (Tribute Tracks) :
Drive-By Truckers - Danko/Manuel (2004)
Luke Doucet - The Day Rick Danko Died (2008)


YouTube :
Rick Danko - When You Awake


The Weight - Rick Danko with the Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra (1999)


Stage Fright - Rick Danko, Paul Butterfield and Blondie Chaplin, Madison Square Garden (1979)


David Munyon - Song For Danko (2006)

The Band - The Band aka The Brown Album (Album)

Artist : The Band
Album : The Band aka The Brown Album
Year : 1969

Track listing :
1. "Across the Great Divide" (Robertson) – 2:53
2. "Rag Mama Rag" (Robertson) – 3:04
3. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (Robertson) – 3:33
4. "When You Awake" (Manuel, Robertson) – 3:13
5. "Up on Cripple Creek" (Robertson) – 4:34
6. "Whispering Pines" (Manuel, Robertson) – 3:58
7. "Jemima Surrender" (Helm, Robertson) – 3:31
8. "Rockin' Chair" (Robertson) – 3:43
9. "Look Out Cleveland" (Robertson) – 3:09
10. "Jawbone" (Manuel, Robertson) – 4:20
11. "The Unfaithful Servant" (Robertson) – 4:17
12. "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" (Robertson) – 3:39

Bonus tracks from 2000 CD re-release :
13. "Get Up Jake" (outtake - stereo mix) (Robertson) – 2:17
14. "Rag Mama Rag" (alternate vocal take - rough mix) (Robertson) – 3:05
15. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (alternate mix) (Robertson) – 4:16
16. "Up on Cripple Creek" (alternate take) (Robertson) – 4:51
17. "Whispering Pines" (alternate take) (Manuel, Robertson) – 5:09
18. "Jemima Surrender" (alternate take) (Helm, Robertson) – 3:48
19. "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" (alternate arrangement) (Robertson) – 4:28

Personal Favorite :
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down



Album Details :
The Band peaked at #9 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart. In 2000, it recharted on Billboard's Internet Albums chart, peaking at #10. The singles "Rag Mama Rag" and "Up on Cripple Creek" peaked on the Pop Singles chart at #57 and #25 respectively.

The album includes many of The Band's best-known and critically acclaimed songs, including "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", which Rolling Stone named the 245th greatest song of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 45 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 1998 Q magazine readers voted The Band the 76th greatest album of all time. TIME magazine included it in their unranked 2006 list of the 100 greatest albums.

According to the liner notes to the 2000 reissue of "The Band" by Rob Bowman, the album, "The Band", has been viewed as a concept album, with the songs focusing on people, places and traditions associated with an older version of Americana.

With The Band, Robbie Robertson emerged as The Band's primary songwriter: While Robertson and Richard Manuel largely shared songwriting duties on the prior Music From Big Pink, Robertson wrote or co-wrote every song on The Band, with Manuel receiving co-writing credit on three tracks; Robertson would write the majority of The Band's material after this album. Robertson's songwriting also gained new sophistication and complexity, drawing from historic themes for "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" and Richard Manuel's composing "Jawbone" in the unusual 6/4 time signature.












The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down


Audio Clips : The Band - The Band/The Brown Album

The Band - The Weight

title : The Weight
artist : The Band
year : 1968
chart : #63 (US), #35 (Canada), #21 (UK)
album : Music From Big Pink

for "The Weight" :
Rick Danko- Bass guitar, backing vocal, lead vocal on fourth verse
Levon Helm- Drums, lead vocals
Garth Hudson- Piano
Richard Manuel- Hammond organ (mixed low), backing vocal
Robbie Robertson- Acoustic guitar

about The Band:
Rick Danko
Levon Helm
Garth Hudson
Richard Manuel
Robbie Robertson

The Band were probably the best five musicians ever assembled in one rock band.
All five were multi-talented with instruments, and between the five members they could play about thirty different instruments.
Garth Hudson leading the way ...
Helm, Danko, Manuel with their three good voices ...
and Robertson writing most of the stuff.

about the song :
"The Weight" is one of the group's best known songs and among the most popular songs of the late 1960s counterculture.
No fewer than three cover versions of "The Weight" actually charted higher on the US pop charts in 1968/69 than The Band's original recording:
- 1968: Jackie DeShannon took the song to #55 US, #35 Canada.
- 1969: A joint effort by Diana Ross & The Supremes and The Temptations hit #46 US, #36 Canada.
- 1969: Aretha Franklin's version was the highest charting recording. #19 US, #12 Canada.
- None of these cover versions charted in the UK.

Accolades:
The song is #41 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, published in 2004.

songfacts :
On the original single issue, the artist credit simply lists the names of the five members of The Band; the group name "The Band" does not appear.
Nazareth, where the story takes place, refers to the town in Pennsylvania about 70 miles north of Philadelphia. The rock group Nazareth got their name from this line ("Went down to Nazareth, I was feeling about half past dead..."). In the liner notes for the Across the Great Divide box set, Robbie is quoted as saying that he chose that place because they make legendary Martin Guitars there, so he was aware of the place and been there once or twice.

Robertson on "The Weight":
According to songwriter Robertson, "The Weight" was inspired by the films of Luis Buñuel, about which Robertson once said: (Buñuel) did so many films on the impossibility of sainthood. People trying to be good in Viridiana and Nazarin, people trying to do their thing. In ‘The Weight’ it’s the same thing. People like Buñuel would make films that had these religious connotations to them but it wasn’t necessarily a religious meaning. In Buñuel there were these people trying to be good and it’s impossible to be good. In "The Weight" it was this very simple thing. Someone says, "Listen, would you do me this favour? When you get there will you say 'hello' to somebody or will you give somebody this or will you pick up one of these for me? Oh? You’re going to Nazareth, that’s where the Martin guitar factory is. Do me a favour when you’re there." This is what it’s all about. So the guy goes and one thing leads to another and it’s like "Holy Shit, what’s this turned into? I’ve only come here to say 'hello' for somebody and I’ve got myself in this incredible predicament." It was very Buñuelish to me at the time.
Only in this case, the traveler encounters the favor-asking people in Nazareth itself.

Levon Helm's autobiography This Wheel's On Fire: Levon Helm And The Story Of The Band on "The Weight":
The characters in the song - Crazy Chester, Luke, Anna Lee, are based on friends of the band. In Levon Helm's autobiography This Wheel's On Fire: Levon Helm And The Story Of The Band, he explained:
"We had two or three tunes, or pieces of tunes, and "The Weight" was one I would work on. Robbie had that bit about going down to Nazareth - Pennsylvania, where the Martin guitar factory is at. The song was full of our favorite characters. "Luke" was Jimmy Ray Paulman. "Young Anna Lee" was Anna Lee Williams from Turkey Scratch. "Crazy Chester" was a guy we all knew from Fayetteville who came into town on Saturdays wearing a full set of cap guns on his hips and kinda walked around town to help keep the peace,if you follow me. He was like Hopalong Cassidy, and he was a friend of the Hawks. Ronnie would always check with Crazy Chester to make sure there wasn't any trouble around town. And Chester would reassure him that everything was peaceable and not to worry, because he was on the case. Two big cap guns, he wore, plus a toupee! There were also "Carmen and the Devil", "Miss Moses" and "Fanny," a name that just seemed to fit the picture. (I believe she looked a lot like Caladonia.) We recorded the song maybe four times. We weren't really sure it was going to be on the album, but people really liked it. Rick, Richard, and I would switch the verses around among us, and we all sang the chorus: Put the load right on me!"

Martin Scorsese, The Band - The Last Waltz:
On the commentary track for The Last Waltz, you can hear the normally loquacious Martin Scorsese stumble to a halt in is commentary as he tries to describe what this song is about. That's why I love this song; it always feels like there?s another level to it that I haven't figured out yet. Also, I think the version with the Staples Singers is the best. When Pops chimes in with "Hey Luke, my friend" I get a chill.

Film and Commercial Play:
"The Weight" has featured prominently in many films and television shows, inc such movies as:
- Hope Floats
- Igby Goes Down (in a cover version by rock band Travis)
- The Big Chill
- Easy Rider (Soundtrack version was performed by the band Smith because of contractual problems preventing use of The Band's version. The Band's version is the one that appears in the movie)
- Girl, Interrupted
- Patch Adams
- 1408
- Starsky & Hutch (as a parody of the scene in Easy Rider)
and on television:
- The Sopranos (Episode 4 of Season 4 is titled "The Weight")
- My Name Is Earl
- Sports Night
- It also appeared in an SNL skit, when Zach Braff hosted
commercials:
- Diet Coke
- Cingular/AT&T Wireless, an American telecommunications company.

"The Weight" is one of three songs performed by The Band featured in the 2003 documentary film, Festival Express.
"The Weight" was one of three songs the Band's 1990s lineup performed for "LET IT ROCK!", a birthday concert/tribute for Ronnie Hawkins.
A fan favourite, "The Weight" is also in two post-Last Waltz concert videos: "The Band Is Back" (1984) and "The Band Live At The New Orleans Jazz Festival" (1998).

Cover versions (truncated list):
Van Morrison
Little Feat
The Staple Singers, Soul Folk In Action (1968)
Marty Stuart & The Staple Singers, Rhythm Country And Blues (1994)
Travis, "Coming Around" B-side (2000)
Grateful Dead
O.A.R.
Edwin McCain
Rooney
The Black Crowes
Aretha Franklin (Feb 1969)
Joan Osborne, How Sweet It Is (2002)
John Denver
Dionne Warwick, From Within (1972)
Smith, Easy Rider Soundtrack (1969)
Weezer, Weezer [The Red Album] [Japan] (June 4, 2008)
Diana Ross & the Supremes, with The Temptations, Together (June 1969)
The Allman Brothers Band
The Derek Trucks Band
The Marshall Tucker Band
Jimmy Barnes with The Badloves, Flesh And Wood (1993)
Joe Cocker, Mad Dogs & Englishmen (1970)
Jeff Healey, Mess Of Blues (2008)
Uncle Kracker, My Name Is Earl - The Album (2006)
Michelle Shocked, ToHeavenURide (2007)
Bob Dylan has covered the song live.
At the end of the movie It Might Get Loud Jack White, Jimmy Page and The Edge play The Weight acoustically while swapping vocals
In The Band's concert film, The Last Waltz, The Staples and The Band perform the song together.


lyrics :
I pulled in to Nazareth, was feeling 'bout half past dead
I just need some place where I can lay my head
"Hey mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?''
He just grinned and shook my hand, "No'' was all he said

Take a load off, Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off, Fanny
And you put the load right on me

I picked up my bag, I went looking for a place to hide
When I saw Carmen and the Devil walking side by side
I said "Hey Carmen, come on, let's go downtown''
She said "I gotta go but my friend can stick around.''

Take a load off, Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off, Fanny
And you put the load right on me

Go down Miss Moses, there's nothing you can say
It's just old Luke, and Luke's waiting on the judgment day
"Well, Luke my friend, what about young Anna-Lee?''
He said "Do me a favour son, won't you stay and keep Anna-Lee company?''

Take a load off, Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off, Fanny
And you put the load right on me

Crazy Chester followed me and he caught me in the fog
He said "I will fix your rack if you'll take Jack my dog.''
I said "Wait a minute Chester, you know I'm a peaceful man.''
He said "That's okay boy, won't you feed him when you can?''

Take a load off, Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off, Fanny
And you put the load right on me

Catch a cannonball now to take me down the line
My bag is sinking low and I do believe it's time
To get back to Miss Fanny, you know she's the only one
Who sent me here with her regards for everyone

Take a load off, Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off, Fanny
And you put the load right on me

Audio Clips:
The Band, Music From Big Pink


The Band with The Staples, The Last Waltz (1978)


others :
Bob Dylan & The Band (live)
Smith, Easy Rider Soundtrack (1969)
Travis, "Coming Around" B-side (2000)
Weezer, The Red Album (2008)
John Denver (live) (1969)
Marty Stuart & The Staple Singers, Rhythm Country And Blues (1994)
Joan Osborne, How Sweet It Is (2002)
O.A.R. (live)
Little Feat (live)




YouTube:
The Band with The Staples, The Last Waltz


The Band, Easy Rider movie


The Band, @ Woodstock, [songs starts around the 1:24 mark]


The Band, Live @ Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh, Nov 1970


The Band


From Ronnie Hawkins 60th birthday bash at Massey Hall in Toronto


The Band, Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko and Garth Hudson (backed by Blue Rodeo) at Canada's Juno Awards for the Induction of The Band into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, 12 March 1989


The Last Waltz Ensemble [tribute band to Bob Dylan and The Band] *great cover*
The Last Waltz Ensemble were formed in 2004 and based in Atlanta Georgia.


Jeff Healey


Marty Stuart & The Staple Singers, on Country Music Spotlight 1995